The Lighthalzen Tragedy
by Queen of All Cosmos
Summary: Shecil Damon, archer extraordinaire, received a letter from an important scientist from the Somatology Laboratory. She decides to accept the invitation, but at what cost? 2nd place winner at ANIMARITIME 08!


Brief Summary of what is Ragnarok Online

**Brief Summary of what is Ragnarok Online**

Most of Ragnarok Online happens in Rune Midgard. There is not a real story behind it as it is an anime mixed with a video game. All I can say is that recently, there have been a lot of changes to the game: the Somatology Laboratory which consists of duplicates of the possible playable characters in the game. In the anime, a lot of references are made toward "Lord of Death" who is the ultimate boss. (It was the ultimate boss at the time). I am presenting to you, a short fan fiction on how the Somatology Laboratory could have possibly been created. The characters in the cast are actually the real monsters you encounter in the lab.

Enjoy.

**The Lighthalzen Tragedy**

It was on a cold winter night that the letter had arrived at Shecil Damon's door. It was a letter from a hooded messenger demanding her presence at the Lighthalzen Bio Labs. In a hopeless love with an assassin from the guild of Morroc, married to no one and baring no children, what had she got to lose? Her falcon open its wings and screeched a little before turning its head away from its master as if it was disgust by the demands this letter brought into their little house. The wind bashed against the windows and millions of snowflakes danced in the starless sky. Ignoring the warnings from her trusty companion, she prepared a backpack. She would leave early in the morning.

Shecil was born in Payon and raised by adoptive parents. She had a brother and a sister who were much younger then her. Her path to archery was chosen by herself, her family had nothing to do with her decision. She graduated, became an archer, a hunter and finally, a sniper. Her crow was nameless, but it had been her companion throughout all of these years.

Her latest adventure had finished last year, she had been travelling with her comrades to destroy the almighty Lord of Death in order to bring peace to the lands of Ragnarok once again. Her comrades who had helped her during this adventure were: Eremes Guile, master of the assassin guild from Morroc, Howard Alt-Eisen, whitesmith extraordinaire, Kathryne Keyron, a quiet magician from the town of Geffen, Margaretha Sorin, a priestess whose beauty killed her enemies at sight and lastly, Seyren Windsor, the best lord knight from Prontera. Together, they had defeated the Lord of Death and his dangerous army of fiends that constantly threatened the life of poor citizens and killed many innocents.

Morning shone beneath the curtains over Shecil's bed. Her eyes slowly opened to the new day that had only started. Her backpack ready and in place, Shecil dressed up in her winter coat and walked toward the airship that would send her directly to the Somatology lab in Lighthalzen. While eating her yam, she gave the exact amount of zeny to pay for her ticket. Her nameless falcon brushed its wings against her face, once again as a warning, but she paid no attention to it.

It was almost noon when they landed in the city of Lighthalzen. Shecil walked past the streets of the humongous city and penetrated in the lobby of the Somatology laboratory where she presented her letter to the lady at the registration desk. The mysterious secretary smiled and ordered her to sit down on one of the chairs close to her desk.

Shecil sat and waited, two people dressed in white approached her and examined her, then, they offered their hands to help her up and guided her to the room where her attendance was required.

Suddenly, more whitely dressed people penetrated the room, the door locked, Shecil was on her guard. Her bird was removed from her shoulder, pecking at the man who was disturbing his silent watch. This man was dressed in red: a gas mask was covering his face and he had some sort of gun attached to his back. Shecil stepped back. The people dressed in white approached her and stripped her of her winter coat and her clothes. She stood naked in the middle of the room as everyone left. She fell on her knees, breathless, covering her body. The walls were transformed into window panels where she was observed by several other characters all of them dressed in white.

Shecil was sprayed in water, soap and cleansed once again with water. Her beautiful blonde hair dripped water on the floor. Not understanding what was happening; a few more of the strangely dressed people came inside and gave her a towel. Covering her body, Shecil did not understand what was happening to her. Guiding her to the room where she would be locked for a few days under surveillance.

She had not expected this to happen.

A few days later, after being fed so little and given small amounts of water only to survive, Shecil was brought into a different room where she recognize the faces of a few of her past friends: Margaretha and Kathryne. There was confusion in their faces as well; the two women grasp each other as if it was the apocalypse had struck their youth. Upon seeing Shecil, the two women waved their hands at her, ordering her to come as close as possible to them to be secure. Shecil ran to them and the group looked at their surrounding. The same people, dressed in white, the people dressed in red with the weird guns, staring at the poorly clothed women in the middle.

What were they going to do?

Ordering the women to get up, a few "doctors" (that is what they looked liked) entered the room and placed them on three different beds; attaching their hands and their feet to restrain the movements they could do while these "doctors" worked on them.

Shecil looked at the ceiling and turned on her left to look one last time at Margaret, then on her right to look one last time at Kathryne, a tear softly descended on her cheek. She stared back at the ceiling while one of the people dressed in white placed a mask on her face and slowly, she left the world of consciousness behind.

"Gorgeous women aren't they?" the first doctor, named Paul, spoke.

"Heck yeah, wish I had one of those babes by my side to protect me from fiends every night…" the second doctor, named Patrica, responded.

"Well, let's get to work, shall we?" Paul smiled.

Eremes woke up in a sweat, his fighting partners, Howard and Seyren gazed at him with worried eyes. They knew he had troubling sleep and wanted to know why it was so difficult to actually rest in peace in this time of harmony.

"What's up buddy?" Howard asked.

"I had a bad nightmare, something that has to do with the girls…" he whispered.

"The girls?" Howard was silent. "Tis true, we have not heard of them in a while already"

"Where were you in your dream, Eremes?" Seyren asked grasping his sword on his belt.

"Lighthalzen…" Eremes spoke.

"Let's head over there, shall we? You will only be reassure once you know the truth behind those terrible dreams you have every night. This is the third time you dream about Lighthalzen, there must be something over there waiting for you…" Seyren spoke.

The group gathered their adventure packs and started walking toward the city of Lighthalzen. A few hours later, they arrived in the city, it was deserted, no merchants, no blacksmiths, nothing. Houses were locked; the quiet was almost as terrifying as the usual ruckus that happened in this busy town. Seyren took his sword out and Howard grasped his large rusted axe between his strong hands. Eremes did not react; he only stared, and then pointed at the Somatology laboratory.

"Over there." was all he said.

"The Somatology laboratory, hmmm." Seyren thought.

"I believe the key to my dreams is over there." he responded.

"Then, let's go!" Howard smiled.

When Shecil woke up, she did not feel normal; she did not feel her body. It was the strangest feeling she had ever felt in her whole life. To her, it felt like her life was over…

Eremes, Seyren and Howard busted the laboratory's locked door. Their eyes settled on the lifeless bodies that were scattered everywhere on the floor. Blood, covering the walls and the floor filled the nose of our heroes. Howard ran to a dead potted plant and emptied the contents of his stomach in it while Seyren closed his eyes and whispered a small prayer. Eremes placed his assassin cloth over his mouth and nose and ordered his friends to advance slowly and to remain calm.

"I knew it…" Eremes spoke.

"But… What happened here?" Howard asked wiping his mouth and grasping his stomach.

"There must have been some kind of murder… or …" Seyren answered.

"… Accident." Eremes replied.

It was not a normal accident, not the kind where some mad scientist would actually drop a drop in a solution that was fed to a live body. It was more like a miscalculation in what seemed to be the formula that would transform humans into the gods of Ragnarok. A blasphemy to the gods had been punished rightly, the staff was annihilated and there was nothing left behind, not a single piece of the scientific research evidence.

Eremes pushed the door to one of the back rooms and discovered an animal he had seen before: a hawk in a cage. That hawk belonged to one of the girls that participated in their great adventure! Howard and Seyren penetrated the room with him and they freed the bird from its cage. The hawk screamed a bit and calmed down; it could smell the history of the tragedy.

A few summers earlier, Shecil and Eremes had shared wonderful moments. They had spent their time hunting in the forest and sharing beautiful evenings together watching the sun setting. They had also shared their beds. Every night, they would tell each other fantastic stories of their ancestors. They were in love…

A love that had to be separated as their job was to be their primary occupation. Eremes was called back to his guild in order to pass an exam that would make him the guild leader of all Assassins. Shecil was left behind, in Payon, waiting desperately for news of him. News which never came back to her…

As the boys advanced further in the lab, a trail of blood attracted their senses: it became three trails. Seyren looked at his partners who both nodded to what they were about to do.

"Take the middle one, I will take the left one and Eremes, you will take the right one." Seyren ordered.

"I'll keep the hawk with me…" Eremes spoke.

"Ok, let's go, if something happens, use your teleport skills attached on the accessories I crafted." Howard informed.

_**The group separated. It was a mistake they would never forget.**_

Howard walked into the long hallway that led to a light pattern; it was a half closed door. Upon arriving in front of it, he looked inside and saw a figure of a woman dressed in a short magician dress. Clenching on his rusted large axe, his knuckles turned white. Swallowing a bit of saliva, he pushed the door open only to reveal the figure: it was Kathryne. His eyes widened when he noticed how pale her body had become, it was almost translucent. Howard wanted to touch her, he wanted her to turn around and be happy that he had come to save her.

Reaching out to her back with his hand, he had not even touched her yet that she was slowly turning around. Her hair twirled and Howard's hand passed right through it, not feeling anything, not touching anything. Her eyes were two dark hollowed holes in her face and she smiled. Her lips moved sensually and her hand pointed the sky while her fingers moved into signs. She was casting a spell.

"Kathryne?" Howard murmured.

Seyren was surrounded by many doors, doors in which he opened and found more cadavers and the smell of death. His heart was pounding hard in his chest as he fought the fear that was raging in his veins. He noticed a staircase that had a little bit of light coming from it. Descending into the darkness, guided by the light, he saw what seemed to be a figure of a woman on her knees in front of an altar. The figure's head was leaning down in a prayer; Seyren recognized the ribbon that attached the hair at the bottom of her back. Not understanding why this figure was so pale and almost transparent, he walked toward it. The gentle figure stopped praying and got up. What Seyren saw made his jaw dropped, she did not look like the Margaretha he has had an adventure with in the past. She was different. Stepping back, he clasps his sword, dropped the accessory Howard had given him and looked at the translucent figure. It was too late; she was casting and chanting…

"Margaretha?" Seyren asked.

Eremes was deep into the laboratory, he had been walking for a good ten minutes and he was tired. The hawk squealed. They were very close to the end of the hallway. A large room was at the end of this passage, in the middle stood someone. Recognizing the beautiful figure of the Sniper, Eremes' body shivered. He could smell her, the scent of their love and passion for each other. He ran toward her, screaming her name in happiness.

"SHECIL!! SHECILLLLLLLL!!"

She turned around; her pale face looked at him. Closing her eyes gently and opening them, she smiled. A tear fell down her cheek; it was strange how she could still feel something inside of her after being transformed into this horrible creature. Especially after murdering the scientists, the researchers and the removers, she still felt this pain inside her heart. To see that Eremes was running toward her with her hawk on his shoulder, it made her heart ache more. It made her remember all these beautiful days together. Her hands in position, her bow aiming at the one she once loved, she prepared an arrow. At this very moment, Eremes stopped and screamed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! SHECIL!"

Shecil cried. The arrow flew from the bowstring and pierced Eremes' heart as quick as a flash of light. Eremes' eyes widened, he coughed blood and fell on his knees. His eyes closed as he wept like a child who had just lost his parents. Shecil's hawk flew toward her in an attempt to charge, but realized that it only tackled nothing. She looked at the bird, then at her lover. Her smile erased and changed into agony, she could not scream the pain that she felt. Falling on the floor next to her lover, she held him and touched his sweet face. With her finger, she approached the wound where the arrow had pierced, touched it and realized that the plague had already begun its transfer…

This legend has been sung by bards and minstrels and it has been danced by gypsies for many years… Whoever approaches the laboratory can fee the wrath of these ghosts awaiting for the ones who will find a cure…

But…

Is there a cure to the foolishness of men?

Who desperately tries to become gods?

**END.**


End file.
